Industry leaders provide update at annual State of the Community event

By Faith Hatton, posted Aug 26, 2025 on BizFayetteville.com

Residents, business owners and local officials gathered this week for a community event aimed at delivering key updates across several major industries, including healthcare, education and city and county governments.

The Greater Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce provided a platform for community updates and more at their annual State of the Community event hosted at the Crown Expo Center at 1960 Coliseum Drive.

The event included seven speakers each providing their insight in their industries.

Speakers and highlights include:

Todd Kenthack, chairman of the Greater Fayetteville Chamber’s Board of Directors

Kenthack highlighted the progress of the Greater Fayetteville Chamber over 2025.

“So far in 2025 we have expanded our advocacy efforts at the local, state and national levels, ensuring that our members’ voices are heard in the conversations that matter most to businesses at all levels,” said Kenthack.

Other achievements include:

The Military Affairs Council has strengthened ties with Fort Bragg and new leadership, championing policies supporting service members and local businesses.
Fort Bragg's Garrison Commander Colonel Chad Mixon joined the Chamber board, emphasizing the military's role in the community.
The Chamber launched the Star Board Network for hospitality, service, tourism and restaurant industries.
Future plans include launching the Hispanic Business League, a Toastmasters group, and hosting the 2026 National Civics League.

“And perhaps most importantly, we've established a non profit foundation to support local business education programs to ensure Cumberland County and the Greater Fayetteville Chamber is looking forward to improving the economic profile of the region for decades to come,” added Kenthack.

David Zeitz, president of the Longleaf Pine REALTORS Association.

Zeitz provided a snapshot of the local housing market in Cumberland County. Highlights include:

The median values of local homes measure around $250,000 as of mid 2025, representing a 3% increase in the last year.
Buyers are finding more options in inventory, and current closing reports show there is an 11% gap between what sellers are asking for and what buyers are offering to pay.
The average time for a house to be on the market from listing to closing is around 40 days.

“Inventory has accrued. Back in January, we posted just under 600 homes available in the area. That's about a 62% jump from year over year, but at the same time, the number of sales dipped by about 20%. That shift means that buyers today have more options and less pressure than they did through the peak of the marketing experience during the pandemic,” shared Zeitz.

Michael Nagowski, CEO of Cape Fear Valley Health

Nagowski took the time to share some data highlighting Cape Fear Valley Health (CFVH) system's mission to provide exceptional healthcare and provide an update on the state of the system overall.

There are 8,500 employees along with 1000 physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners that make up the Cape Fear Valley Health system.
CFVH currently provides healthcare across nine different counties.
Across their coverage area, CFVH has seen 62,000 hospitalizations, 37,000 surgeries and procedures and 250,000 emergency room visits. They’ve also noted 925,000 physician office visits, 137,000 oncology visits and most importantly, over 4,200 births every single year.

“I challenge you to find another health system that's grown at the same pace while maintaining the focus regionally. This is our home. This is where we raise our family. This is where we're focused,” shared Nagowksi.

He also highlighted the completed expansions to the Cape Fear Valley Health Owen Drive campus which included 100 new beds and two new helicopter pads on top of the building, a recently completed 66,000 square foot medical office building in Lillington, Harnett County’s newly completed Cancer Center, Cumberland County's only inpatient hospice house which opened this year, and more to come.

“More construction is coming very soon. You will see a six story, almost 100,000 square foot medical office building rise on the campus. In that facility, you'll see an ambulatory surgery setting, a full service imaging center with MRI and CT capabilities and a number of physician specialties we’ll continue to house on the campus,” shared Nagowski. “And, I saved the best for last: on our campus, we are tripling the size of our on-site daycare so that we'll be able to take care of more than 300 children on a daily basis. We cannot ask our nurses and our workforce to come and do their very best for patients unless they know their children are also being cared for. So right after the holidays, we expect that we'll open that program.”

Dr. Stanley T Wearden, president of Methodist University

Dr. Wearden outlined the University's history, mission and professional programs, emphasizing the focus on local health sciences with the addition of the incoming medical school.

There are nearly 30 professional programs at Methodist University (MU).
Along with the incoming Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine, MU currently offers programs in advanced paramedicine, artificial therapy, physical therapy, nursing and mental health counseling.
The new medical school will create 800 new jobs, and when it's fully enrolled, there will be 480 students in the medical school.
Methodist University is currently waiting on official accreditation for the medical school from the LCME and is expecting to hear final confirmation in October of 2025.

“We are really moving into health sciences. We see health sciences as the future of Methodist University. So the School of Medicine is the next logical step for us, especially one like ours, the Cape Fear Valley Methodist University School of Medicine, because it has a commitment to social accountability, community engagement and healthcare equity, and we're also proud to work with Cape Fear Valley. They're just such great partners, and our missions overlap and correspond so well,” shared Dr. Wearden. “Once we get the green light, we can start recruiting our first class of students, and then 328 days from today which will be July, 21 2026, those students will be sitting in classrooms at the Cape Fear Valley Methodist University School of Medicine.”

Other speakers in the local political sphere included City of Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin and Cumberland County's Kirk deVire, chairman of the County Board of Commissioners.

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